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Violet Minturn, a half-Chinese/half-American courtesan who deals in seduction and illusion in Shanghai, struggles to find her place in the world, while her mother, Lucia, tries to make sense of the choices she has made and the men who have shaped her.

Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan spans more than forty years and two continents and is a sweeping family saga with a huge emphasis on the mother/daughter relationship. It has courtesans, beautiful images of China, search for identity, and new life in the new world.

From the critics

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Well. I have read other A Tan books and have enjoyed them. I enjoyed this one. But, I was very interested to read the comments of others. I too, skipped along, not bored exactly but waiting for something to unfold. I wasn't "offended" as some others were by the content, it all seems/ed plausible given the times. Explicit, yes, pornographic... bit harsh. Basically, the book wasn't as good as I had hopedbut certainly had entertainment value for lack of another word. Don't regret the time spent reading it.

I feel like everyone wanted this to be the Chinese version of Memoirs of a Geisha. This book, however, is more. It's rougher, softer, scarier, deeper, truer, and harder to ignore. The difference lies in the fact that the author is a woman, and one who's own lineage contains stories similar to the ones written. The author of Memoirs...was a white male who more or less stole the words.

Yes, there are painfully descriptive bedroom scenes (and a lot of them). There are exceedingly grotesque realities and a new but familiar heartache at every turn. Nothing is really off limits. Tan's honesty alone is alienating and enough to justify the criticism. It is just plain uncomfortable. It made me wince and I literally passed out during one part. I get why some people would put this down halfway through. I did not, and I don't condemn it in length, subject, taste, or result.

Tan wrote it in such a way that I felt like she was telling me a secret. Because of detailed and taboo subject matter, she instantly makes her readers part of an inner circle. You feel like she's not sharing this with just anyone, but with someone fated to hear it. So I became committed, and in doing so I was able to feel the confusion, desperation, shock, resignation, and indulgent joy of these lives. If I could just get past one more painful page, I might be rewarded with a better fate. I enjoyed the floral themes, the ties of women to one another, and the breathlessness caused by highs and lows of love and tragedy.

I want to go around recommending this book to everyone, but it is just too pungent to do so. I can only speak for myself. For me, there are no subjects more dear than motherhood and history. I'll continue to eat up any such tales Amy Tan churns out regarding the two with so much enthusiasm, you'd think I was being paid to fake it.

Story of 3 generations of Chinese/American women in China who disconnect from their mothers in various ways and make their own lives. Central parts of their lives are a high-class brothel and wealthy men who befriend them.

The bare outline of the story has great promise. But it's way too long. And while the characters might well have talked or thought about sex in that much detail, I didn't want to read about that much detail. A Shanghai prostitute, sure. A 14 yr old strictly-raised San Francisco girl--I don't think so! Some of it's funny, yes. The section on the sister-wives learning to enjoy each other's company and trust each other enough to escape together was a highlight. I only finished it, though, because I wanted to know what on earth any of this had to do with the Hudson River Valley, mentioned on the fly leaf! It was a long way from "The Joy Luck Club," which I go back to over and over. In other words, I don't think this book shows growth in a writer.

This book needed some serious editing. Way too rambling. A lot could have been cut...and that would have improved the story. ! did finish it, but that's more a reflection on me than the book. Disappointing.

I loved this book, while I agree it as less amusing as Saving Fish From Drowning and as thought full as others, being a mother I felt eager and compelled to finish this book. The hopes and dreams of these women during this historical era really felt true to me in what these poor women went through. Some of the sections may be to graphic for some but her choice of words was truly gifted in toning down some of the uncomfortable erotic sections. What these women persevered through was truly incredible.

hard to believe that she wrote this book - terrible - very disappointing - she should - UN -publish this one. I never leave reviews, but was compelled to save other readers not to suffer through this one

Quotes

"I was chasing after happiness, that false salvation, all the way to a desolate place. I might not find it. And if I did, it might simply be the illusion I had created in my mind, and if I held onto it as real, I would exist only as part of that illusion."